Latin name of the genus and species: Vaccinium ashei Reade.
Cross-reference to related applications. None.
Statement regarding federally sponsored research. None.
Variety denomination: Savory.
Rabbiteye blueberries are native in the southeastern United States. During the past 30 years, improved cultivars have been developed, and these are now grown commercially for the fresh and processed markets on several thousand hectares of land in the southeastern United States, in Chile, Australia, and New Zealand. Rabbiteye blueberries tend to be more vigorous, more drought resistant, and tolerant of a wider range of soil types than highbush blueberries, but they have the disadvantage of late ripening. As a species, the wild rabbiteye blueberry tends to flower later than highbush blueberries growing in the same area, and the period from flowering to ripening is substantially longer for rabbiteye varieties. Thus, the harvest of highbush blueberries in eastern North Carolina normally begins before the harvest of rabbiteye blueberries much farther south in southern Georgia. This puts the rabbiteye blueberries at a market disadvantage compared to highbush. The late ripening also results in a less favorable harvest period with respect to weather. After early June, night temperatures and dew-point temperatures rise abruptly in north Florida and southeastern Georgia, and afternoon thunderstorms become much more frequent. The heat and rain interfere with harvest operations and lower berry quality.
Rabbiteye blueberry breeding began at the University of Florida about 1950, with the goal of developing early-ripening, disease-resistant plants that would produce high-quality berries in areas with mild winters. The principal method of breeding was recurrent selection, in which large numbers of seedlings were produced and evaluated after controlled crosses, and the best seedlings were used again as parents to produce the next cycle of seedlings. This process was carried out repeatedly as quickly as the seedlings could be evaluated for fruit quality and season of ripening. Because of the way the recurrent selection program was conducted, the two immediate parents of xe2x80x98Savoryxe2x80x99 are not known. It is known that neither parental clone was patented. xe2x80x98Savoryxe2x80x99 is a clonally-propagated selection from this program and is valuable because of its early ripening, large berry, and vigorous bush.
One hundred plants of xe2x80x98Savoryxe2x80x99 were asexually propagated by softwood cuttings in Gainesville, Fla. in June 2001. The plants obtained were observed during two years of fruiting in the field, and they retained the distinctive characteristics of the clone. This test, along with previous propagations by softwood cuttings in Homerville, Ga., indicate that xe2x80x98Savoryxe2x80x99 retains its distinctive characteristics and reproduces true to type in successive vegetative generations.
xe2x80x98Savoryxe2x80x99 is a new rabbiteye blueberry variety that has the following unique combination of characteristics that set it apart from other blueberry cultivars.
a. Produces berries that average 2.0 g per berry on well-pruned plants compared to 1.4 g for the rabbiteye variety xe2x80x98Climaxxe2x80x99 (unpatented).
b. Ripens its berries 7 to 10 days earlier than the variety xe2x80x98Climaxxe2x80x99 (unpatented) when grown in southeast Georgia. Averages 25% of the crop ripe by May 22 at Homerville, Ga.
c. Has a chilling requirement of 300 hours per winter below 7xc2x0 C.
d. Flowers at the same time as xe2x80x98Climaxxe2x80x99 (unpatented), averaging full bloom in early March at Homerville, Ga.
e. Produces berries with a small, dry picking scar and high firmness.
f. Produces a vigorous, upright bush, reaching a height of 2 m within 4 years on favorable sites.